‘Affordable’ housing: New bill demands a definition

An apartment costing $1,100-a-week can be labelled “affordable housing” in Australia – and a new bill introduced today seeks to end that paradox, pushing for a national crackdown on what the term actually means. Bradfield MP Nicolette Boele has today introduced the first bill to establish a nationally consistent definition of affordable housing, joined by the Property Council of Australia, Australian Community Housing and the Planning Institute of Australia. The legislation is designed to link rents to household incomes and create a nationally consistent definition for homes supported by government funding and housing programs. This would see “affordable rent” defined as the lesser of 75 per cent of the market rent for the dwelling for the week; and the amount worked out by dividing 30 per cent of that household’s gross annual income by 52. Ms Boele said billions of dollars have gone out the door under the affordable housing name. “Nobody can tell you how many of those homes a nurse could afford to rent,” she said. “There is no national register, no standard, and no one whose job it is to check.” Nicolette Boele MP, Member for Bradfield today discussing the first bill to establish ...